Construction of legged articles



(No Model.)

W. J. HUMPHREYS. CONSTRUCTION OF LEGGED ARTICLES.

No. 467,811. Patented Jan. 26, 1892.

/N VENTOH WITNESSES 7 *w. v 2/. B)

A TTORNE YS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IVILLIAM .I. IIUMIHREYS, OF CROZET, VIRGINIA.

CONSTRUCTION OF LEGGED ARTICLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 467,811, dated January26, 1892.

Application filed April 24, 1891. Serial No. 390,260. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I,WILLIAM J. HUMPHREYS, of Crozet, in the county ofAlbemarle and State of Virginia, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in the Construction of Legged Articles, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relatesto improvements in the construction of leggedarticles. It is well known that a great deal of annoyance is experiencedin the use of tables, bureaus, washstands, and the like, from the factthat such articles often do not sit evenly upon the floor, and as aresult they are liable to tip.

The object of my invention is to obviate this difficulty by constructingsuch articles in such a manner that they will adjust themselves to theinequalities of the floor upon which they stand, so that they will restevenly and solidly upon the floor at all times.

To this end my invention consists in certain features of constructionand combinations of parts, which will be hereinafter described andclaimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar figures and letters of referenceindicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a broken longitudinal section of a table constructed inaccordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a broken plan of the same withthe table-top removed. Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail sectional view,partly in elevation, showing the manner in which one of the short leversand the end of the main lever are connected. Fig. 4. is an enlargedinverted plan View of one of the friction-blocks. Fig. 5 is a verticallongitudinal section of a table provided with a modified means ofpreventing it from tilting. Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional plan of themodified method through one corner of the table, showing the arrangementof the parts which prevent the tilting; and Fig. 7 is a cross-section onthe line 7 7 of Fig. 6.

To illustrate my invention I have shown it as applied to a table; but itmay be applied to any legged article as well.

10 is a table of common form, which has legs 11 secured to the cornersin the ordinary way;

but thelegs are hollow, and mounted vertically in the legs are rods12,which rods are provided at their lower ends with rollers 13, althoughthey may rest directly upon the floor A. The upper ends of the rodsterminate in heads it, which engage the under sides of the levers 15,and the heads and levers are arranged to move in recesses 16 in theupper ends of the legs, the legs being slotted vertically on their innersides opposite the recesses, as shown at 17, so as to permit of thenecessary vertical movement of the levers.

The-levers and 20 are arranged at each end of the table in the drawings;but they may be arranged at one end in a man nerhereinafter described,if desired. The levers 15 are pivoted centrally in the table-frame, asshown at 15, and the inner ends of the levers are forked, as shown at18, and in the fork of each lever is pivoted a friction-block 19, whichblock is preferably of metal and has its under side corrugated, as shownin Fig. 4, and this corrugated surface contacts with similarcorrugations on the upper surface of the ends of the main lever 20. Thepivoted equalizing bar or lever 20 is centrally pivoted to thetable-frame, as shown at 20, midway between the levers 15, and the endsof the lever 20 are corrugated, as described, and contact with thefriction-blocks 19. It will thus be seen that the weight of the tablecomes upon the rods 12, the levers 15, and the lever 20, and the lever20 acts as an equalizer and works in the following way: If there shouldbe a depression in the floor beneath one of the rollers 13, the rod 12,connected with the roller, would drop until the roller rested upon thefloor, and as weight would still be on the rod in the opposite leg theouter end of the lever 15, which connects with the latter rod, would beraised, thus depressing the inner end and tilting downward one end ofthe lever 20, and the opposite end of the lever 20 would be raised, thusraising the inner end of the opposite lever 15, and this would force theouter end of said lever to bear upon the head 14 of the rod 12immediately beneath it, so that the weight of the table would bedistributedbetween the rods 12 and the levers connecting them. The legson both sides of the table may be provided with the rods and levers, ifdesired; but

as a rule it is sufficient to construct one side of the table in thisway, and the legs at the end may be connected instead of at the side, ifdesired.

It will be noticed that the friction-blocks 19 will serve to prevent thelevers 15 and 20 from slipping, and thus from allowing a tip, even whena heavy load is placed on one corner, and will insure the efficientworking of all the levers by making them self-locking; but to simplifythe construction the friction-blocks may be dispensed with, and in somecases the levers 15 might be dispensed with and the main lever 20arranged so that its ends would contact with the upper ends of the rods12. It is preferable, however, that the main lever, the two end levers,and the friction-blocks be all used, as this construction insures theperfect Working of the parts, and by self-locking prevents the tablefrom being forced by heavy weights to tip.

What is meant by self-locking is that the friction-blocks will prevent atip when a heavy weight is placed on one corner of the table. If thefrictionblocks are not used, such a load causes a tip which is onlylimited by the vertical play of the rods in the legs.

In Figs. 5, 6, and 7 I have shown a modification of the invention. Inthis case the rods 12 are provided with heads 14*, and the heads areinclined, as best shown in Fig. 5, on the sides which face each other,the recesses 16 in the upper ends of the legs being con structed in sucha way that the heads may move vertically, but cannot turn, and in thismanner the inclined sides are always kept in the same relative position.An equalizing bar or lever 21 extends longitudinally beneath the tabletop and through slots 22 in the top of each leg opposite the recesses16, and the ends of the rod or bar are inclined to correspond with theinclination of the heads 14.

in the floor.

rod 12, acting on the inclined end of the rod 21', will cause the rod 21to slide longitudinally until it comes in contact with the inclined headof the rod that has dropped, and thus equalize the pressure on the twolegs and prevent a tip. This method is selflocking that is, While thetable is setting steady and a pressure on both rollers or a heavy weightplaced on one corner of the table will not cause it to tip when theheads 14: and ends of rod 21 are properly beveled.

I have shown my invention as applied to a table; but it is obvious thatit may be applied to any legged article, or, in fact, to any articlewhich rests upon a floor and which is desired to be kept from tilting.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent' 1. A mechanism forrendering tables selfadjustingto'fioor inequalities, comprising two separate and independentvertically-sliding rods, a horizontal equalizing baror lever between thesaid rods, and operating devices at the ends of the bar or lever andupper ends of the sliding rods to permit the bar or lever to be moved byone of the rods through the medium of said operating devices when theother rod moves oppositely to the first-named rod, substantially as andfor the purpose set ward motion to the other, substantially asdescribed.

WILLIAM J. HUMPHREYS. \Vitnesses:

C. T. JORDAN, A. J. CRANN.

